E-marketing series: Chapter 1 "Who is your company online?"

The forecasting tells us that B2B is set to reap 10 times more than B2C.
This gets my attention. If you are in B2B, like me, you will want to see this as a reality in your company.

Enter E-Marketing.

Firstly, every company is different and it is important to understand who you are, how you sell and how to best represent your business objectives seamlessly online.
To misrepresent your company online is damaging(akin to false advertising). Many business are unaware of their own "false advertising" online.

Discover thyself.

Types of online presence:

1. Transactional e-commerce site:

For: Your company sells goods online (or is able and willing to sell online in future)

Online Sales? Yes.
Focus: Online Product sales.
How: Point visitors to buying right there, right then onsite. Have a bit of product info to help offline sales.
example: www.amazon.com

2. Service-orientated relationship building website.

For: Your company provides a service offline.

Online Sales? Not typically.
Focus: Providing information and adding value for customers
How: Provide info to stimulate purchase and build relationship. Value added for existing customers offering interesting information through mediums like newsletters.
example: www.accenture.com

3. Brand building site.

For: Your company sells low-value, high-volume fast-moving goods offline

Online Sales? Not typically.
Focus: Focus on online experience
How: Facilitate strong customer ties by providing a memorial online experience. Provide tools that promote user interaction.
Example: www.guiness.com

4. Portal/Media site

For: Company does not sell goods. Your company links customers to services provided by third parties.

Online Sales? Not directly.
Focus: Intermediates between user and other sites. Providing info on a range of services using info and links. These sites generate revenue through onsite ads, commission based sales and selling customer information.
Example: www.yahoo.com

Once the type of company is defined above we can move into the realms of e-commerce, e-business and e-marketing..